I hadn't plan to post today, but as sometimes happens in life -- and definitely in SL -- one thing led to another and a journey was underway. The details aren't important. The end result is that I found myself at BSG EXODUS II, a role play sim.

I donned my visitors tag and went out for a brief tour. And you know -- of course you do -- that I had to take some photos along the way. As I was shooting I noticed that my eyes had a very glazed look to them. (Toooo much wine last night? Perhaps.) And then I remembered that BOTHERhad just released some night goggles. Now that was perfect timing. So here I am stylishly attired in an alternative world.

The worlds might have been destroyed. Metal mistakes of our past pursue. Characters facing their greatest challenges despite being fallible. Everyone gets to be a hero when you can never go home again. RDM Battlestar Galactica inspired role play sim.

Click the goggles to move them when not in use. While I consider these more of a photography prop *wink*, here is the info about the HUD and usage:

Also included with the goggles is the nightvision HUD. Go into mouselook to activate the nightvision, the HUD also has a built in radar and avatar targeting system. While in mouselook aim the crosshairs at the avatar you wish to target and type /100get. When the avatar has been successfully targetted the avatars profile picture and avatar name will be displayed at the right.

If you love all thing girlie, you'll want to be on the lookout for a new AO releasing this coming week from Vista Animations. Sweet Chica (young girl in Spanish) is filled with poses that make your smile and remind you that innocence is still around for some folks. Based on the full-featured AOs of late, this -- like my Most Wanted AO -- breaths.

There are dances and arm position choices as well as many walks and stands. I admit the buttons and menus seem to go on forever, but once you spend a little time with the choices it all comes clear -- well mostly. I admit I have been doing lots of things this week so I am learning as I go along.

I only have the first edition beta to go by so I can't comment on the finished AO, but as you can see from the photos, pretty poses abound. They move easily from one to another and cycle in a manner that makes them very natural.

Most of you know that I am not all that feminine, but I bet I could fool you wearing this AO *wink*. So get to the store and hop on a pose stand when these become available. Maybe you can unlock that inner chica!

For those of you following my machinima experiments, a new music video is up at You Tube. Midsummer Night's Dream features dances from the Vista Animations Most Wanted AO including chimera use as well as outfits from Bang Bang (shown here) and Yasum Designs. If you have a fast connection, be sure and watch in High Definition and full screen. On a good You Tube hour it is crystal clear.

I am adding to and reposting from last night as I have NEWNESS this morning that is so cute it would be a shame to leave it out! There are goodies in the deviousMind sim hunt from (*chanimations too. Three boxes gets you props, poses and posestand and this oh so cute vintage backdrop.

You are looking for this prize object, an apple with whipped cream and a compass. There are around thirteen boxes to find in all. Here is a bit of info from one of the prize notecards.

There has been a strange commotion one of these nights at deviousMind sim, excited voices everywhere, press, flashlights… the exact circumstances are not quite certain; it might be, that the busy chiefs of police are too involved in investigations to issue a statement. It would seem, that all residents of said sim, so far known as a peaceful place, are still in shock about the deed of crime – or in possession of a knowledge they are not willing to share.

At any rate, investigations are going on.

And apparently you found a clue - or at least one of the missing items of our deviousMind SIM HUNT!

A late night reminder for those of you oohing and aahing over the "In the Beginning There Was Purple" outfits *wink*, that the hunt at the deviousMind sim has begun. Along with the luscious burlesque outfit you can find a set of cute little topper hats, with yummy detailing from Cupcakes and Poetry.

Other prizes include the lounging pillow with multiple animations and some VERY cute wicker baskets, both from Captain's Quarters. Some Moroccan style hanging lanterns are an additional prize. Sadly I had run out of prims everywhere this eve so you will have to discover their look for yourselves. Three colors are in the set. Very exotic!

The deviousMind sim is ADULT. You will need "payment info on file" (/me waves hand) OR adult verification. If you haven't checked out getting verified of late, it is a simple matter of clicking "yes I really was born on ...". Honestly, this means nothing now (head shaking here) but it will get you into the sim for an adventure and some nice prizes.

A busy day for me so I am posting my color of the week a bit early. Back in food mode again, our target hue is "melon", a not particularly well represented color in my closet. I did however have a couple of items that fit the bill. I remade my sock tops from a Tuli gift long ago into tallish leg warmers and borrowed the melons from the Bayou (available at LISP $10 and under area).

For those of you who have been following my Windlight and shadow posts over the last year or so, I have an announcement. While my Radeon graphics card still has those nasty edges and won't work for print photos, it is just FINE for video. The video gets compressed a few times giving you a slight Gaussian blur even in high definition.

Experimentation proved my assumptions correct and along the creative journey I got voice working (who KNEW you had to configure your mic in Win7?) and found that my audio editing software from 2000 (yes that is not a typo) works just fine on Win 7 - 64. So with lots of techie goodness under my belt, I am ready to move onward in my machinima adventure.

In the meantime, here is a fun video on shadows and Windlight. Music, voice overs, captions -- I wonder what will be the next NEW thing for me. Ah, I remember *wink*. I will keep you updated.

My outfit is made up of mostly old favorites with that same newish necklace from Kosh. It seems to be my style and we can always use a little crystalline help.

Most of the time I am a casual gal, but once in a while (OK, not that often) I do have the need to look businesslike. With a couple of new releases to work with, getting a stylish professional look was easy. My charcoal business suit is part of a new release from Mischief Fashion. The set includes a a cute mini skirt as well as some very nice prim parts that unfortunately didn't fit me as they were no mod :D. I do love pinstripes! The vest hales from E d e n, an all prim topper that goes easily over other layers.

Adding some tried and true classics and a recent release necklace from KOSH gives me that "I mean business but I am still a gal" air.

I splurged today and purchased a new AO from Vista Animations. The MOST WANTED AO V1.2 EX comes packed with so many options it takes a large expandable HUD to house the buttons. Luckily it collapses down to a minimal size. Since I needed to practice my filming skills and adding music (TURN UP THE VOLUME), I took the opportunity to make a quick video.

My purchase -- a rare occasion -- goes to show that sometimes those hunts really do bring in customers. I had some extremely nice (off the floor) prizes from Vista in the MOOLTO hunt not long ago. This lead me back to look for dances for my filming escapade. And that lead me to perusing the AOs. While not inexpensive, this is a terrific bargain for all you get. Honestly there must be fifty or so options in the hud -- maybe more. I am still playing and have just begun to discover all the things it can do.

Wednesday Edit: This Flickr issue has apparently been fixed and anyone should be able to see the video.

If you have a Flickr account you can view the video here. Currently I have an odd message that this hasn't been flagged as safe so I cannot "share" it here. Any of you smart Flickr guys know what that is about, please let me know. Meanwhile I will do research and hopefully put this up on You Tube tomorrow and add a link.

Edit: So here's the thing -- apparently I am now a MODERATE Flickr user. Whether that has anything to do with my movie making, I know not. I was NOT moderate until this morning after uploading a completely tame movie intro with nothing more than a fully clothed girl sitting on a bed and being wistful. The Flickr info page suggests that this new rating happens when someone writes to the staff complaining about inappropriate content (sigh). Perhaps someone is simply unhappy with me. I am not competing with anyone, but maybe they don't know that :D.

OK, here is the You Tube link. Clearer on Flickr, but at least everyone can get to this :D.

A quick post to let you know I am still around, just in machinima mode and having lots of fun with that. AND to show off this new Animal Ripped Tank from Shantal. All layers are included -- even tattoo. Other colors are available including blue and green. I was happy to receive the purple version so I could wear my Kim Plays Bass Bracelets from Ticky Tacky -- oldies but goodies.

A quick post to highlight a couple of very cute hunt gifts from the PouPee Hunt. The Mexican shawl waist wrap is from graph*. Two versions are in the pack; the guys have not been left out. Happily it goes nicely with one of three bandeau tops from Miseria in the same hunt. Get out there and find those little red dolls!

We are heading towards the homestretch (week 38) of our 52 weeks of color with this week's choice a mind-boggling hue called "patriarch". Who knew there was a color by that name? Not I. Patriarch is definitely in the red-violet family, a color we most often call purple. I have a few things in my wardrobe that would have worked for this post, but all were older and you have seen them before, even if you don't remember.

I was chatting with Chandra ( deviousMind and (*chanimations) the other morn and asked her if I had anything of hers that might be that color. I figured that she would remember her designs better than I could. In the end there was nothing.

Well, that wasn't exactly the end. Somewhere along they way, Chandra volunteered to make a new outfit in that color.

Patriarch

Like most creative folks, she seems to get wrapped up in the process of making. Where the process leads? That can be anyone's guess. There were feathers and tattoos and a burlesque train -- all on my request. Then came a purple nightclub with some luscious wallpaper that somehow got missed in my photography. The stage will be released as a prop in the near future. Obviously she needed to do something with all this designing besides make "ME" an outfit in purple *wink*. As the clock began its count toward midnight (getting that drama in here) she gave me an official "press release" of sorts.

The new costume "Miss Dhalia" upcoming from deviousMind, is a pre-official-release as sim-huntgift in "PATRIARCH!" deviousMind is going to get a new devious mind (literally) so the hunt is basically to celebrate the re-opening of her store, and well.. all of us are making presents :-)

The hunt date is soon. Watch Chandra's blog to get the news even before I will.

One thing many of us have learned from this adventure through the color wheel, is that perception (and possibly video cards) lead to many versions of our flavor of the week pigment. I have done my best to be creative with the photo capture for this shoot. Drama was already guaranteed!

Yes, you have seen this photo before; you are not having a drug flashback or a gray haired moment. But since I wanted to do a little shouting from the rooftops, it seemed appropriate to post what I was shouting about.

I won the second Hair Fair contest!

In the aftermath of some very derogatory remarks about my ability to take a good photo *smile*, it is especially rewarding to BE rewarded for doing so. Chandra (maker of this outfit) will be thrilled that I am now a pro Flickr member -- meaning that I better get my posterior in gear and do something with all that space. I am thinking machinima maybe. We'll see.

Thanks to everyone at the Hair Fair. I really do think it was the best to date. And I still really LOVE this hair.

The PouPee Hunt has started. Lots of things for those young at heart. While many items in the hunt are simply too girly for me, there are bound to be some things that are "just right" and I plan to look for them soon. I actually cheated a bit and looked at the Flickr pages before I set out this late afternoon. So here you see two picks from a long list of nice shops. First up is this cute and well fitting linen romper from Pesca. Be sure and check the lucky boards when you venture over; they are popular.

My clever necklace is a new release from *JD*DESIGN called ALL U NEED. Fun!

I admit that I really hate huge beds. I have thrown away dozens of beautifully made designs because they were almost as big as my house. So when I saw this "little girl (or guy) " bed from Art Dummy, I thought it might be perfect for me -- and it is. The animations are stellar and fit me very well. Yeah! I even like the little bunny hanging over the end of the bed. Very cute.

The official hunt page with hints and SLURLS (not matching the stores) is here.

Finesmith has a new collection out for 55 Thursday. Choose from necklace, bracelet or earrings. There are also some very large (VERY LARGE) statement making hoop earrings in various colors that are bound to be fun!

With just a little bit of effort you can bring home two very nice hunt prizes. First up is this table and chair set attachment from The Julia Collection on the cupcake hunt. Especially appropriate if you are in a "mood" (knives are a reoccurring theme in this design *wink*), no prims are needed in this attachment with pose.

Can you believe this is the SIXTH hunt designed to get the guys looking better? It seems like only yesterday the first one debuted on the grid.

This prize is easy to find. Out in plain site, a group notice went out in the early morning hours so expect a crowd. The hair comes with and without resizer in JUST this dark brown shade. There is a textured tannish twist tie in back. I love this!

I am much more of a "Make Love, Not War" kinda gal. Still I appreciate a gorgeous build and I support folks exploring their personal versions of Second Life. So when a gray camo pack from BOTHER came my way, I knew just where to head, Wolfenstein Antractic Stronghold. This post mainly features Chav, but the helmet definitely looked better on me *wink*.

If you love camo, then checking out the store's offerings will be a pleasure.

Not everything is military of course, but there is plenty in that vein. Shown here are both vest and rucksack as well as some well worn jeans.

The backpack is particularly nice with a netting layer over the camouflage cloth.

All prim items are manual mod. The backpack is sized for guys, so tiny ladies will need to do a bit of prim manipulation for fine fitting.

This was the first sim I had visited who had set their windlight and asked if you would change to it. I did. With misty lighting and snow abounding, it was an interesting shoot.

Some friendly folks tried to chat me up. I of course was deep into photography mode and didn't notice their IM until I was done shooting :D.

While this sim is action packed with shooting and such, it doesn't seem to be a role play sim. I wore my visitor tag anyway, hopefully letting them know I wasn't their for the melee.

Style Notes:

Style notes will be simple for this. All clothing and accessories are from BOTHER except for the tee which comes from funkstar. Chav's military boots are from the Mootool Hunt of last month courtesy of Aliza Karu.

Hot summer days, cool breezes from the ocean, a bike ride in the park -- all good things. The Seasons Hunt has been a big hit judging from the traffic and the blog posts. I have my favorites of course, and I especially wanted to mention the beautifully designed cottage from L2 Studio.

I loved the Tuscon House from the last hunt, and this one is even more special. The textures are lovely, small scaled and wonderfully rendered. The design is open, inviting and quaint in its own way. One of my favorite parts once again are the slow opening shutters. The upstairs bedroom (well in my imagination anyway) is SO nice. Let in the fresh air! At 85 prims for the main Hot July House plus a few prims for optional items, this is not a "512" house, but it will work for lots of folks and is definitely worth hunting for. This is an easy to find prize actually *wink*.

By now most everyone will recognize the pose bike from [what next]. Three unisex poses that should work for most everyone and a cute basket filled with shopping goodies makes it a great prop. You could even rez it on your porch if you have some prims to spare.

I absolutely love these earrings from PIDIDDLE. Part of a hunt in June, they sat around in my folder waiting for something "coral". The finely textured bodysuit from sur+ on the Seasons Hunt is a great match. I added some white jeans after this shoot and I am ready for some sunny relaxation.

Most of us like playing dress up. The new LaMadame sets from !dM deviousMind definitely entice us to explore and imagine. While the boas and corsets are the stars -- in my score card anyway -- the sets offer many options including a long skirt and a choice of pant colors.

Two boa styles are included; long and asymmetrical -- drama abounds.

Both corset and demi bra come with strategically placed tattoos. Mixing and matching possibilities are abundant.

The sets come in black, pearl, blue, gold, pink, purple and red.

This pearl necklace from MB Style no longer qualifies as a new release *smile*. It has been sitting in my newness folder languishing away the days waiting for a perfect match. The Jacqueline beads have finally found a partner. Tis a happy day.